BEAUTIFUL HEART

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV). The above verse speaks of the beauty that God has put into His children’s hearts. Yet it is hard for me to believe this, since I still sin. When I took this to the Lord, He said that it was His pleasure to make me His child (see Ephesians 1:5), and He wants me! He said that I am His bride, and He chose me. He said that He will be with me forever, not just in the next life but also in this earthly life right now. Beloved believer, this is how He feels about all of us. He delights in us (Isaiah 62:4)! By the way, it’s interesting to note how the Lord doesn’t speak to my mind but to my heart. He knows that my mind knows and accepts the truth; it’s my heart that gets plagued by the lies, and Jesus dispels those lies with His love.

Grace

I was anxious about my upcoming performance evaluation at work. After two months as assistant manager at the kitchen at Rolling Hills Elementary, I’ve come to realize that this is a tougher job than I expected. Worrying about my performance wears me out. When I brought this to the Lord, He showed me (in my mind’s eye) His face shining on me with His love and grace. He was not at all concerned about my performance. He was just happy that I’m His child. He reminded me of Romans 5:2 which says that Christians stand in grace. Another time I had a day in which I made stupid mistakes at work. The next day I was reading Psalm 63 and I came to verse eight which says, “Your right hand upholds me.” We are in God’s hand! And when we behave imperfectly and make mistakes, we are still in His hand.